Chapter 187: 2003 is here

On the eve of the release of "Memory Fragments" in the Halloween schedule in November 2000, Wang Yang agreed to invest in the new work of Christopher Nolan in his living room, adapting the biopic "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life" for 65 million yuan, and producing a biopic about the tycoon's first half of his life, "Mr. Hughes".

At that time, Nolan was just a new director who received a lot of praise at film festivals such as Sundance, but there were quite a few directors. He had never proved his "money-making ability", so the industry thought that the plan of "Mr. Hughes" was just a hype for the Flame Movie to build momentum for "Memory Fragments". However, it turned out that it was not. In the five years since its establishment, Flame Movie only engages in viral marketing, but never hyped it.

It was also under the excellent viral marketing that "Memory Fragments" with a 8 million film purchase fee was finally sold for 84.11 million yuan worldwide, becoming a big and small business miracle at that time.

Now when the media are taking stock of the "Top Ten Stand Out Movies" of the Sundance Film Festival, Quentin Tarantino's famous work "The Water Dog" is usually ranked first, and the second is "Sex, Lies and Video Tapes" directed by the prodigy, followed by "Four Weddings and One Funeral", "The Sorrow of the Killer", "Crazy Shop"... and "Memory Fragments" and "Diet Hallucinations". Both suspense films are quietly located in the film and television Curry of the Flame Movie.

The success of "Memory Fragments" has fully realized Nolan's potential, but the filmmakers all felt that he should continue to shoot thriller and suspense movies rather than a biopic. For example, the remake of "White Night Chase" jointly invested by several small independent production companies such as Alcon Entertainment and Unit 8, invited him to direct it. Of course, he was busy with the production of "Mr. Hughes" but failed; the filmmakers eventually handed over the director's microphone of "White Night Chase" to Jonathan Demi.

After completing the preliminary preparations for scripts, crews, and scenes in half a year, "Mr. Hughes" was filmed for nearly 5 months, and the post-production special effects production, editing and soundtracking were officially completed in May 2002, and it also spent 65 million yuan in total.

The publicity work has been underway. The publicity budget offered by Flame Movie is 25-30 million yuan, and the miscellaneous expenses of other copies and other copies have been controlled to 100 million US dollars.

This also means that if you simply expect box office revenue, you need 250 million yuan to recover the cost. However, the box office target of Flame Movie is not so high. As long as the global box office can reach 150-200 million yuan, you will be very satisfied. Because there are other peripheral revenues. If this is a classic biopic, it is not a problem to make a sum of enough money to recover from DVD, original soundtrack, etc.

However, Flame Movie has obtained the copyright of a classic movie of 65 million yuan. In the next ten years, it will provide a long-term stable, bit by bit income on copyright fees such as TV on demand and rental. This long-term business is the magic weapon for many companies to survive. Relying on these copyright fees one by one every year, it is enough to maintain the company's operating expenses, and it seems to ensure that it will not be in debt or bankruptcy, unless a big investment loses its underwear.

In the promotional plan formulated by the distribution department, the focus of the film's promotion is not on director Nolan, but on Jim Carrey, who starred Howard Hughes. I don't know how Nolan convinced him to agree to star, but the media and fans were surprised from the beginning. Howard Hughes is indeed a weird person, but not the kind of guy who uses his hands to pull a big hole in his mouth. What's going on?

Of course, Kim Carrey has always been seeking transformation. He has already achieved enough success in comedy, and then naturally wants those golden trophys. The drama "Trueman's World" brought him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in the Drama category. Comedian Andy Kaufman's biopic "The Man on the Moon" made him add a cupboard full of MTV movie awards, but he wanted an Oscar.

But on the list of Golden Globe nominations announced a week ago, Mr. Hughes did not receive a nomination, as if it announced the end of the journey to hit various awards. Perhaps because the six nominations for "The Ninth District" and "The Hangover" have reached the "top limit" of an independent film company, Mr. Hughes has just been selectively ignored.

However, it cannot be said that "Mr. Hughes" is over like this. After all, there are no technical awards for the Golden Globes, and the number of judges is far from that of the Oscars.

On Friday, December 27, with the arrival of the weekend, "Mr. Hughes" was officially released on a large scale in 2,675 theaters in North America. As the chairman and star of Flame Movie, Wang Yang and Jessica went to attend the premiere of the movie to help Nolan, Jin Carrey and others.

The screening hall of the Selangor Theater was packed with a light and heavy classical soundtrack. The audience quietly looked at the images on the big screen. The color style of the picture was very dark and had a style of the Great Depression era. Kim Carrey, who played Howard Hughes, walked down from the black sedan and headed to the Thunderbolt Hua Company Building in a straight-cold suit.

The main creators of Nolan and other movies were all sitting in the front row, while Wang Yang and Jessica were sitting in some guest areas behind, but the viewing angle was better. Jessica suddenly leaned her head with interest and whispered: "Yang, if you burn your clothes straight all day long, you'll be more like Howard Hughes." Wang Yang turned his head and glanced at her, and returned to the screen, saying: "I can't become that kind of person, I can't fly a plane." Jessica smiled and continued to watch the movie.

She is joking like this because some media say that Miracle Young is a legend like Howards Hughes. Of course, Miracle Young was not born with a golden key in his mouth and did not have a big family legacy; but the super young and magic director, the youngest billionaire, and his unique investment in emerging blogs after the bursting of the Kewang stock bubble, all have Hughes' style.

The blogger website has been selected as the "Coolest Website in 2002" by Fortune magazine. This name represents prospects and value. It is a product that Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and other companies are rushing to acquire. In fact, blogger's registered blogger has long exceeded 10 million, and has grown rapidly to more than 15 million. It has also used the backend management software function to achieve revenue. It is preparing for a comprehensive upgrade, with more free and powerful template editing functions, blog albums, blog groups and other services... It is becoming an important website on the Internet.

"And I don't want to be a lunatic." Wang Yang turned his head to look at Jessica again.

Howard Hughes became a weird man in his middle and late years because of his severe cleanliness and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He used milk bottles to make urine and tissue boxes to make shoes... He got married and divorced three times, and had no children. He was very sad in his later years. He died on a plane at the age of 70. His face was unrecognizable due to years of insomnia and torture. He even had to use a fingerprint to identify the old man to be Howard Hughes. God knows how he made himself like that?

"I'm going to have a bunch of children." Wang Yang stretched out his right hand, pressed his palm on his flat belly under Jessica's black evening dress, and smiled: "Now book two, a little girl and a little boy." Jessica chuckled with a smile. Seeing that he said that, she focused on returning to the screen, she patted his right hand and muttered in her heart: "But you haven't done anything yet."

She looked at the big screen in front of her, but gradually became a little distracted, and a beautiful silver ring appeared in front of her eyes...

Time passed minute by minute, and soon all the 2-hour and 15-minute movies were played. Amid the sad music, the cast was rolling on the screen. The audiences of the Selangor Theater immediately applauded. Wang Yang also clapped his hands hard and looked at the main creators of the crew who stood up in front of him to thank him. This is a very good movie, very contemporary, and it also expresses the distorted character of Howard Hughes and the inner pain.

After the premiere, the main creators of Mr. Hughes crew, guests and others came to the hotel to hold a dinner. In the lively banquet hall, everyone laughed and talked about it, and the rich food and wine on the table were taken at will.

Wang Yang and Jessica were chatting with Nolan and his wife. He held a high heeled glass and took a sip of the slightly sweet wine, and smiled: "Chris, you brought us a masterpiece." Nolan, who was wearing a suit and tie, had a faint smile on his face; Emma Thomas, wearing a red dress, had a little apology on his face, and seemed to be joking: "But the box office may not be very good."

"No, no, don't talk about this now." Wang Yang shook his head slightly when he heard this. This movie is indeed too literary and does not have the characteristics of ordinary box office sales, but he believes it will not be too low. It is a good movie that can be watched with relish.

In fact, he knew that no matter whether Mr. Hughes was ultimately making money or losing money, as long as Nolan and his wife were eager to continue to produce the second half, he would nod and agree. If from a business perspective, he knew more than anyone else where Nolan's potential and ability went. Flame Film and the talented director maintained the best relationship with this talented director, which is very conducive to future development. Even if he lost some money now, it would be a long-term investment.

From the perspective of the movie, he felt that Nolan's movie was trying out, laying the groundwork and accumulating something. The fully mature lower part is likely to become a classic that is well-known for, so there will naturally be no losses. Finally, from the perspective of an ordinary audience, he wanted to watch the lower part. These three reasons were the reasons why he could not refuse. He smiled and said, "Chris, say that, if you have confidence, I will have confidence."

"Well, I know." Nolan nodded, thanking her very much, but who wants to be a box office poison director? Anyway, he doesn't want to! It's his goal to be a big hit at the box office and tell what he wants to say. Nolan frowned a little confusedly and asked, "I've been thinking recently, how to balance business and art? How can I do it?"

Wang Yang thought about it, how to do it? With the influence of publicity, the movie itself... He shrugged his shoulders and said seriously: "be-cool, that's what I think." Jessica looked at him with a smile, Nolan thought, and Wang Yang continued: "The name of the movie should be cool, the poster should be cool, the story setting should be cool, the picture composition should be cool, the shooting technology should be cool... Everything, when all of this is done, it must be a commercial film; but the theme it talks about is the art that everyone talks about."

He shook his glass and took a sip of wine, saying, "I mean, a theme can be made in a madhouse by a group of old men like Jack Nicholson; or a group of beautiful guys in a tense and exciting fight explosion. Of course, the former can concentrate on doing one thing and achieve the ultimate; the latter is not that profound, but it is more suitable for the public to watch, fascinate, think, feel, search for what they want to know on Yahoo Google..."

The profound theme is expressed in commercial form, opening up the audience's thinking space. Nolan has thought about these two points and tried the latter in "Memory Fragments". However, the simple sentence in the previous sentence made him feel like he was electrocuted, and his heart suddenly beat faster. What kind of commercial form?! In addition to the narrative method and editing technique, how can the audience's brains bend?

Nolan took a deep breath and murmured, "be-cool, be-cool..." Story setting, picture composition, shooting technology... movie name! poster! Many blurred thoughts suddenly became clear, he couldn't help laughing excitedly, his face full of "exaggerated expressions". For a moment, there was no longer a long-term gentlemanly style. He laughed and said, "Yes, be cool and special! You are right." He laughed again, saying, "That's right! Yes, yes! Sorry, I'm sorry to lose my companion first, I want to think about it carefully."

His face was immersed in a happy smile on his face, and then turned around and walked towards the bathroom. Why did he figure it out now? He pounded his palms while walking, and smiled to himself: "be-cool, haha..."

"Oh, he is really..." Emma Thomas looked at her husband who was walking away while chatting, and said apologetically: "I'll lose my companion first, I'll see what's wrong with him." After that, she hurriedly chased Nolan with her handbag.

Jessica's black eyes were filled with inexplicable surprise. She looked at Wang Yang and asked curiously: "What does this mean? Is it just a cool thing?" Wang Yang held the wine glass and spread his hands, but he didn't expect Nolan's reaction to be so loud. She smiled and said: "I don't know, I said it casually."

Sometimes, he was wandering outside a door for a long time, and then suddenly someone accidentally gave him a key, and he opened the door and walked in. As for what was behind the door, only he himself would know.

"But you can understand this way, just be cool. If you can play commercial films, you will win if the audience thinks you are cool." Wang Yang said as he walked towards the long table full of food, drank half a glass of wine, and felt a little hungry. Jessica followed him, raised her lips and smiled, "Yang, tell me! I want to be a director too!"

The day after the release, most critics and fans gave Mr. Hughes a good review. It scored 8.0 on the main page on IDC, which is not high for a premiere literary biopic, but it is enough to label an excellent movie; Rotten Tomatoes' popular critics have 85% freshness, 82% freshness, and 76% favorites.

Its characteristics of the era, the performances of actors such as Jin Carrey, and the "seven-talking but well-organized" narrative style have been praised; however, as an art film, Joe Thomson of the Washington Post said: "It tells a story well, but it is just a story. Christopher Nolan seems to be fascinated by the mysterious Howard Hughes. He carries characters and tells their past throughout the film, but forgets to tell everyone what to say."

Perhaps the audience just likes to tell the story well, and with the popularity of Howard Hughes and Jim Carrey, the box office results of "Mr. Hughes" were not as bad as Emma Thomas thought. When December 27-29, the last weekend of 2002 came to an end, "Mr. Hughes" received 19.63 million box offices in 2,675 theaters, ranking fourth, and was expected to receive 30 million box offices in the first week, which was fully meeting the expectations of Flame Movie.

After all, a movie is usually screened for 20 weeks, and Mr. Hughes has a chance of receiving 70 million to 100 million in North America; coupled with the overseas market that has not yet been released, it is not out of reach for 150 million to 200 million in the world.

The movie that occupies the top spot in the box office this weekend continues to receive "The Lord of the Rings 2", which received $48.87 million; the second place continues to be the hilarious "Hangover", which divided the box office of 34.49 million in North America; "Attack on the Imprison", which officially released the first week, took away the third place with a record of 30.05 million. Then came "Mr. Hughes", "Personal Lover", and "Cinderella Manhattan"...

No. 31 is the last day of 2002, and there are countdowns around the world to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, including Times Square in New York and the Las Vegas Strip on the Desert Oasis.

At this time, under the night, the high-rise buildings on both sides of the avenue were brightly lit, and the long and wide avenue were crowded with people, and tourists coming to participate in the New Year carnival were everywhere. They all smiled happily and held champagne. When a New Year bell rang, people in the entire casino would cheer at the same time and drink the wine celebrating the arrival of the New Year.

Compared with last year, the number of tourists who chose to come to casinos to revel in this year has increased significantly, perhaps because of the influence of "Hangover". Among the dense crowd, laughter and shouting from time to time: "This time for Vegas!", "Give it to 2003!"...

Wang Yang and Jessica, who were on the avenue, also held champagne. At this time, they saw a group of six or seven young people in front of them, all holding champagne bottles high, and one of the blonde white boys laughed and shouted: "Let's drink all this in one breath! Let's get drunk! For Vegas, for friends, for "Hangover"... for Happy New Year!"

The two couldn't help but smile. Seeing them drinking so hard, Wang Yang and Jessica also raised their bottles of champagne and touched each other, laughing and shouting: "For the sake of "Hangover" and for the Happy New Year!" After shouting, the two raised their heads and drank a big gulp. Under the colorful light, seeing some wine on her lips, Wang Yang reached out to wipe her and smiled: "It's really like a drunkard!" Jessica also reached out to help him wipe the corners of her mouth, and smiled with a slightly bent eyebrows: "You are too!"

"10,9,8——" At this time, the sky above Las Vegas suddenly changed from vaguely to deafening. The New Year's countdown sounded. All tourists on the avenue looked at the outdoor TV hanging on the exterior wall of the building with a smile on their faces, shouting the countdown: "7,6,5——" Wang Yang and Jessica looked up at the sky holding hands, waiting for the fireworks to appear, and laughed and shouted with everyone around, "4,3,2,1! Happy New Year-—"

Bangboo—With the loud noise of fireworks blooming, various beautiful flames suddenly appeared in the dark sky, blue, red, yellow, green and other colorful silk threads intertwined, spreading and falling like an umbrella; Bangboo, a large red ball of fire illuminated the entire sky like daytime; Bangboo—

"Wow wow wow wow--" The tourists on the avenue shouted wildly, and people were laughing and clinking glasses everywhere, laughing and laughing: "Man, drink it!", "Hahaha, look at me!"... Wang Yang and Jessica also took a sip again, looked at each other's scorching eyes, and then hugged and kissed each other. They had walked for another year!

2003 is officially here!

"Wow! I just realized that drinking kisses feels good. You can taste two kinds of wine at the same time!" Wang Yang let go of her and said with a beautiful "um" as aftertaste. Jessica rolled her eyes and smiled, "Silly! Cocktails can make you taste ten kinds at the same time!" Wang Yang patted his forehead and Jessica said excitedly: "Where are we going next? How many things do you think you can do in one night?"

Looking around the crowd, listening to these joyful and noisy laughter, Wang Yang laughed loudly: "Many, many, many, many - see what can happen to our crazy night! Go to the casino first!" Jessica waved the bottle in her hand and shouted: "Let's go!!"

Under the bright yellow light, the hotel and casino are more lively than the avenue outside. Various gambling and entertainment facilities and gambling tables are surrounded by guests shouting, and the chips and coins are constantly scattering. The two people who came to the casino are also one of them. Blackjack? Texas Sass Poker? Stud? Big Roulette? None of them. Wang Yang took Jessica to the slot machine that Jeff Ma said, "That's gambling". Since you want to gamble, then be a complete gambler!

"Jesus! Spit out the money for me, and give it to me..." Jessica, who gritted her teeth, stuffed a coin into the slot machine, pulled down the lever with both hands, and kept slapping the fuselage nervously. Wang Yang looked at her crazy appearance and wanted to ask, "In fact, did Jesus allow his believers to gamble?"
Chapter completed!